Read Psalm 86:14-17
To be totally honest, I haven’t suffered much in my life. I was born in America to parents who loved me and wanted me. Things were not always perfect, but I had everything I needed and felt secure. I could choose my path and had access to resources to be whatever I wanted to become. I gave my life to Jesus at an early age and wanted to learn to follow Him and serve Him wherever that would take me. But the Lord took my husband and me, along with our children, to some places where people are born into suffering. Where suffering is all they have known from childhood. Where opportunities are very limited and pain and uncertainty are part of everyday life. It was hard for me to see. It was painful for me to absorb all of this suffering.
My husband and I were able to visit Gaza every week for about six years, entering on Monday morning and leaving on Tuesday afternoon. Our role was to encourage the Christians there and do programs in the churches. I would enter homes and listen to their stories, cry with people, and pray with them. I would feel all the weight of their grief and sadness. I would return from those visits heavy-hearted and burdened by all I saw and took in. I would get overwhelmed sometimes with the pain of my friends.
Then a dear Palestinian sister told me that I was never asked to carry all the suffering of the people of Gaza. She said each week, I needed to go and visit and listen and cry and hug and pray and then give all that heaviness to Jesus. She said, “His huge heart of compassion can carry all of it; yours cannot.”
I had to learn that He is strong in our weakness and He has the shoulders to carry the burdens. He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. When Jesus walked on this earth, He went from town to town looking for the hurting and broken, and He had compassion on them, proclaiming the Good News and healing all their diseases.
I’m so thankful that in this broken and hurting world, He hasn’t left us alone to carry the weight of suffering. As I read the news and follow all the events of this increasingly wounded world, I pray that I will cast all of my burdens at His feet and receive His help and comfort, so that I could be a help and comfort to those in need.
For Reflection:
- Cast the weight of the suffering you hear about or experience onto Jesus. Allow His ability to carry those burdens bring comfort and peace to your heart.
By Terri Plant
